Profiles
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1968 L88 Coupe
The L88 Corvette burst onto the scene with victories at Daytona and Sebring in 1966 and continued at the Le Mans Trials in April 1967, where, in near-stock trim, an L88 clocked 171.5 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. That same car led the GT class in the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans for…
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1990 ZR-1 Coupe
The Corvette is an American icon. It is the only true American sports car that has lasted from the ’50s when the sports car market emigrated from Europe to this country, and numerous manufacturers on this side of the pond dabbled in making fun two-seaters. The styling of Corvettes had always been pleasing and…
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When Salvaged C5s Go Slumming
Call me an auction junkie, but on one of the few Saturdays that I wasn’t covering a collector car sale, I went to Princeton, Minnesota, for a truck and heavy equipment auction. Along with trucks, tractors, front-end loaders, construction equipment, and other hardcore guy stuff, Wayne Pike Auction Company also sells consigned cars and light…
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1986–96 Chevrolet Corvette C4 Convertible
Nineteen eighty-three was the model year without a Corvette. The C4, which debuted as a 1984 model, was the first all-new Corvette since 1963, and like the first-year C3 in 1968, there were problems aplenty. The digital dash was failure-prone, the ride was punishing, and the carried-over-from 1982 twin throttle-body “Cross-fire” injection was inferior to…
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1971 Lamborghini Miura SV
The last SVs finally received separate lubrication for engine and gearbox, so the engine didn’t have to swallow metal shavings from missed shifts {vsig}2007-12_2103{/vsig} Factory records indicate that chassis 4882 was finished on November 29, 1971, as production number 627. The original paint color was Fly Yellow with a black leather interior. The car was…
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1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder Competizione
If you could justify paying too much money for a car, this was the one Luigi Chinetti loved the 250 GT TdF coupes and saw a market for an open top version. Many Americans lived in warm climates like Florida, Arizona, and particularly California, and so preferred the good looks and the cooler nature of…
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1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster
Upping the ante in the 1930s horsepower race, Mercedes-Benz designers introduced the 8-cylinder 500K (for Kompressor, or supercharger) model in 1934. The supercharger boosted power from 100 hp to 160 hp, and the external exhausts set the style that would carry the company through the rest of the decade. Two years later, the 5.4-liter 540K…
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Lola-Climax Mk I Sports Racer
For sheer giggles per lap, I don’t think there is a vintage racer around that can match the Lola Mk I {vsig}2007-12_2109{/vsig} This well-presented Lola-Climax Mk I is not only a fine example of perhaps the most sought-after of all British small-capacity sports-racing cars of the 1950s, it is also one that can boast an…
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1954 Austin-Healey 100 Roadster
A 1954 BN1 fitted with the Le Mans kit from new is even rarer than the “factory” 100M model of 1955 {vsig}2007-12_2112{/vsig} Following the Austin-Healey 100’s sensational debut at the 1952 Motor Show, the Works entered two mildly modified cars in the 1953 Le Mans 24-Hour race. They finished in 12th and 14th places, a…
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Alfa GTV6: Best of the Bottom-Feeders
The Maratona edition was referred to as the “Marijuana” edition, in reference to what Alfa must have been smoking at the time {vsig}2007-11_2084{/vsig} For many Alfisti (our esteemed Publisher included), the saga of Alfa Romeo in the U.S. effectively ends after 1967, when emission controls began to sap their essential “Alfa-ness.” Having driven his ’65…